


First Encounter - High Warden Hong

by faustianpixie



Series: Daily Lives of Regular Palace Residents 1- Soonhoon [4]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Comedy, Courtier Jeonghan, High Warden Joshua, King Lee Jihoon, M/M, Philosophy, Prince Kwon Soonyoung, turned out pretty intellectual sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:14:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25295992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faustianpixie/pseuds/faustianpixie
Summary: Joshua scoffed. “If that is all you see in the city and the palace, then I believe you are naive.”“I am!”That’s new“My mother often told me that one is either wildly naive or dangerously intelligent. Which one are you?”“Didn’t your mother also tell you not to ask the person you are trying to read?”“No she didn’t and I,in fact, like doing it. It catches people off guard.”Soonyoung’s now customary grin broadened.“How is that working for you now?”CONTEXT FOR THE PIECE (4/53 - Past):Royal Aide and cousin to the King of the West, Kwon Soonyoung embarked to the capital as an offering to the South-Eastern King Lee Jihoon's palace because he was enamoured during a brief encounter with the King. The King, upon bein informed lacks interest.
Relationships: Hong Jisoo | Joshua & Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Hong Jisoo | Joshua & Yoon Jeonghan, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Series: Daily Lives of Regular Palace Residents 1- Soonhoon [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1828549
Comments: 10
Kudos: 52





	First Encounter - High Warden Hong

**Author's Note:**

> Hewoooooo  
> I'm back! I can't believe the first one got 300 hits! And totally my kudos went above 150 so my heads a riot. Anyway, thank you to those who commented and wait for my updates...I am trying to write everyday because of your constant encouragement.  
> The POLL IS STILL OPEN! I have finished both and working on the next two and am formulating the next three ahead! let's see hehehehehe  
> I hope i give a hint of the stories of the past because I have a jeongcheol track that explains the past in my head and can write that too. But maybe later in a different form. ;)  
> 

“Hello!” 

_ Huh? _

Joshua lifted his head from the desk. Who would anyone come here? Didn’t they usually summon him? Those pompous ladies were the bane of his existence.

Apparently, it was the new addition to the harem. Prince Kwon Soonyoung, first of his name and first of men in the harem. Many people walked up to him this past fortnight trying to gauge his alliances, and had returned with empty handed. Eventually, they realised he was nothing more than an exotic bird procured for fancy. It would either rot in the cage or be set free. The bird metaphor seemed accurate in the sense that Prince Kwon seemed a little...untethered. But which bird would willingly enter a cage? Joshua, in his place wouldn’t have volunteered, if the rumors were true. And it was quite futile. The King, upon being informed, didn’t express interest.

Yet, in appearance, there was nothing left to be desired in Prince Kwon. A lithe yet strong form of a warrior. Hair that seemed to be cared and grown for a lifetime. Skin smooth from years of royal baths.  _ And yet he was here? Was it as the rumors say? Did the prince of the West come to search for a weapon to subdue the South-East King? It wouldn’t be true. Like all rumors. _ But Joshua also knew that people didn’t take such decisions spontaneously. They were thought out and often had a goal. Maybe it was for that goal that Soonyoung sought him out today? It had been only a week, enough for real intentions to show.

“Say, why are you so shocked to see someone visit you?”

Joshua started. 

“Why do you say as if it could be anyone? It could be just you.”

Soonyoung pouted.

“I want to think it's anyone. Just me and I’d be hurt, High Warden Hong.”

Jisoo leaned back intrigued by this logic. When he had got this position, he had realised, people were usually transparent. Obvious in what they want and how they want it. Who they are, who they were and who they will be. There was only a select list of people whom he had seen had some depth of character. The King of course being one, his prime minister and his husband, and his guards. This man however seemed transparent, but wasn’t. Yet Joshua knew he wanted something. So he figured, he’d start with that.

“That aside, what do you want from me?”

Soonyoung laughed.

“I don’t want anything Jisoo-ssi. I just wanted to talk to you. Actually my idea was to just pass the house to the pool nearby! But then I saw you dozing away here and figured, if I could talk to you. Does it get lonely here?”

Joshua frowned, caught off guard.

“Oh. Um...I-I believe the palace-”

“I meant in the South-East Kingdom. Jisoo-ssi comes from the North right?”

Joshua nodded dumbly. Of his five years here only Jeonghan, his closest friend had asked him that and many other courtiers formally. But it wasn’t a conversation for the Harem.

“I-I do. My courtesy name there was Joshua.”

“Jo-Shoo-Aa” Soonyoung tried. “Amazing!”

Joshua couldn’t help but huff out a laugh. There was a child-like curiosity out of place in a grown man’s eyes.

“Can you tell me what the North looks like? The people? The food? The smells? I’d love to go there myself...” A dreamy sigh escaped.

“Then why are you here?” Joshua blurted.

Soonyoung smiled softly. “I-I like the King...I know it may seem as a small crush, but I really wanted to see for myself whether it was more than that. But he hasn’t called on me...”

Joshua pitied this boy. Lee Jihoon was his friend and King, but he was also very averse to anyone getting close to him. It had amplified when he sat on the throne and was taught to distrust anybody. His friends now were the friends before. No one new. Joshua also had that trait. Scepticism. The unhealthy kind.

“So you just came here? For fancy?”

Soonyoung nodded.

“Well, I also wanted to see the city! We hear a lot about it in the west! But I didn’t get the chance until now.”

Joshua scoffed. “If that is all you see in the city and the palace, then I believe you are naive.”

“I am!”

_ That’s new _

“My mother often told me that one is either wildly naive or dangerously intelligent. Which one are you?”

“Didn’t your mother also tell you not to ask the person you are trying to read?”

“No she didn’t and I,in fact, like doing it. It catches people off guard.”

Soonyoung’s now customary grin broadened.

“How is that working for you now?”

Joshua pretended to think. “Not as good as I thought it would.”

Soonyoung laughed boisterously.

“It’s fun talking to you Jisoo-ssi! You are very smart and a gentleman. I see the fabled Gentleman of the Palace lives up to his name.”

“Fables are often true.”

Soonyoung seemed to disagree. “Fables are mere tales with morals. It is like water to me. You can’t perfectly contain it in your hand. It is elusive enough to pour in different moulds for different morals. Don't you think so?”

Joshua had never imagined having such a conversation with the prince. But it was a pleasant change.

“But I believe the same water solidifies to become ice. And that is tangible. Just like that, we must only see its essence. That is what the moral must be.”

Soonyoung mulled over it. 

“How did Joshua-ssi feel when he came here? Your parents were slaves weren’t they?”

Joshua was the one caught off guard. It was an open secret but no one dared broach it with him.

“I...I don’t-”

“It may seem nosy Joshua-ssi, but I would like to know. If you don’t mind.” 

Soonyoung didn’t seem to judge him or pity him in tone, so Joshua figured,  _ what would be the harm done? _

“My father was a war criminal in the War of the North. Thankfully, he was allowed to keep his wife and one summer old son if he worked in the royal palace of the South-East King. And I am just grateful I could stay with my parents. So we toiled. And it paid off. My family was emancipated with the many enslaved families in the previous king’s decree. But we chose to stay. I made friends along the way. Later, he was posted as High Warden and here I am sitting in his seat.”

Joshua hadn’t realised it had been two summers since he inherited the title. Time really did fly.

“Joshua-ssi, I think...Fables are lies. So they have a lot to say. But stories are real. So they cannot have morals.”

Joshua couldn’t agree more.

~~~~~~~From the Royal Account of the 5th High Warden, Joshua~~~~~~

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU FOR MAKING IT SO FAR!!!!  
> Thanks all! It really means a lot that you guys have stayed with me and been patient with me for this piece. I felt proud of this piece really and I hope you all enjoyed it too!
> 
> QUESTION FOR THE COMMENTS: who is HIGHLIGHTED in the piece SOONYOUNG OR JOSHUA?  
>   
> PLEASE COMMENT YOUR ANSWER BELOW  
>   
> PLEASE COMMENT IN GENERAL T_T  
> THANK YOUUUU  
> FAUSTIAN PIXIE  
> @Myalurks This is my public twitter ID! Do interact uwu


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